Can I export my LinkedIn contacts (names, email addresses, etc.)? Yes, to some extent.

How do I export my LinkedIn contacts (connections)?

It is relatively easy to export your contacts (or connections) from your LinkedIn account. However, you can only export your LinkedIn 1st level connections and limited information pertaining to each connection.

The LinkedIn contacts export includes names and email addresses. Therefore, you can send an email to all of your contacts outside of LinkedIn. For this reason it is wise to export your LinkedIn contacts every now and then.

How To:

To export the contact or connections information from LinkedIn to a file, follow these step-by-step instructions:

  • Logon to LinkedIn, go to your LinkedIn home page (usually where you start when you login)
  • On the left sidebar (menu area), expand the “Contacts” dropdown menu; the box to the right of the word Contacts
  • Click on “Connections” below Contacts
  • Look for “Export Connections” at the bottom of your list of connections, that’s a clue, click Export Connections
  • Select the format for the export (Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo mail, etc.)
  • Enter the security text as requested
  • Click “Export” (blue box) and save the file on your computer

If you exported a .CSV file (comma separated values), you can import that file into a host of email marketing software programs (we recommend aWeber), spreadsheets and databases. The last time I checked, the LinkedIn exported file fields only included:

  • First name
  • Last name
  • Email Address
  • Company
  • Job title

Have questions or would you prefer we do this for you? We provide social networking and LinkedIn training on a regular basis – let us know if we can help.

PS: We are publishing a series of social networking and online marketing tactics for our clients and business colleagues. To receive the updates when they are published – including how to optimize your LinkedIn profile to collect referrals – subscribe here (complimentary).